"More of the same.... in the best way possible."

First off, I would like to say, as long as you like shooters and wish to take a break from story driven, Halo/Half-Life, then this game is most likely for you.

Introduction:

The sequel to Serious Sam and the Serious Sam: The Next Encounter, which was combined in the Xbox version of the game, the story continues. You are required to find five pieces of a medallion, on five different and very different worlds. The completion of this medallion will allow you to defeat Mental. (the main enemy if you did not play the first game).

Graphics:

The environments are filled with rich color and interesting enemies. The gun models are done rather well, for the simplistic nature of this game and the enemies are a superb graphical improvement from the first game. Explosions, look the same, but this does not really matter, because they were very well done in the first game. Other aspects of the environment are also very well done, including, buildings, structures, ect. Don't expect amazing graphics, seen in games that focus on the graphics, such as Doom 3, for example *more on the Doom series later*.

In conclusion: the graphics do not make this game, but in no way do they make this game fail or create a lesser entertaining experience. All in all, they are very good.

Gameplay:

If you have ever played Serious Sam, then it's just like that. Only, there are lots more types of enemies, different weapons, and vehicles. There is a basic physics system that lets you interact with objects, like Half-Life 2, but this does not really affect the gameplay, meaning, you cannot shoot a piece of wood and destroy it to cause a heavy object to fall and kill an enemy. To those who have never played Serious Sam, the best game I can think to compare it to, would be the original Doom series. Doom I, Doom II, and Final Doom, are fairly similar to this game. So are Quake, Wolfenstein 3D, and so on. Basically, you walk into an area, dozens of enemies come out, some fairly small, to some incredibly large enemies. Different weapons must be utilized to destroy these enemies. Shotguns work on weaker to medium enemies, for a one hit to two hit kill. While stronger weapons i.e. rocket launchers, cannon (yes, like a handheld naval cannon from the 1800s), and grenade launchers.

In conclusion: The gameplay is far more in-depth then I have made it out to be, I did not mention the use of vehicles when available, and the use of turrets. While not necessarily the most complicated gameplay in the world, it does deliver pure entertainment.

Story and Other:

Like stated above, you must collect five pieces of a medallion, enabling you to attack, the main enemy mental. While this game does not focus on the storyline as much as many other games, there has been a great improvement in the use of cutscenes, which occur frequently and are very comical, as many enemies and so are. I did not mention other aspects of the game that are usually present in mainstream reviews, such as audio, which I found to be irrelevant, the guns create a distinct sound, footsteps are a distinct sound, enemies have a distinct sound and their deaths have a distinct sound. I, for one, do not have surround sound or anything deviating from maintstream audio, but I can assure anyone who plays this game, that audio will not be a problem.

Conclusion:

Graphics- Very good, considering the amount of enemies on screen and everything that is happening.

Gameplay- Excellent, fast paced, and purely entertaining gameplay.

Other- The whole game is comical, and everything else is suited for the style of the game, don't expect to be blown away or anything.

So, it's definitily worth a rent at the least. The game can vary on length, because I found myself almost always getting below the level's par time, although, there are secrets to most of the levels, which can cause the length in the game to increase. At the time of this review, the game should be pretty cheap now, and to most people, it is worth your money.

Parameters of the game:

1 Player CampaignCo-op possible through system linkMuliplayer possible through system linkXbox Live EnabledOnline Multiplayer